The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for reducing bit errors in continuous data transmission via a data transmission medium, in particular via optical fibres.
During transmission of data via a data transmission medium by a transceiver events which reduce the accessible bandwidth can occur. These events can be caused by changes of transceiver parameters of the respective transceiver transmitting the data or by changes of medium parameters of the respective data transmission medium. For example a transceiver can comprise lasers for modulating signals to be transported via an optical data transmission medium. When employing, for example digital supermode distributed bragg reflectors (DSDBR) or similar devices mode jumps can occur due to temperature drift. Such a mode jump can cause a wavelength jump which can cause bit errors, in particular since a laser can not be modulated properly during such a mode jump. Besides transceiver parameters also media parameters of the data transmission medium can cause a disruptive event or a change of the available bandwidth. This includes for example PMD (polarization mode dispersion) in optical transmission lines. Additionally, by chromatic dispersion in case of a disruptive event a jump to a lower wavelength can be caused. These kinds of disruptive events can cause error bursts to such an extend that they can not be corrected by the transceiver receiving the transmitted data via the data transmission medium.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for reducing bit errors in continuous data transmission via a data transmission medium in case that disruptive events occur.